Palace v Leicester City

Selhurst Park, Saturday 3.00pm

Marouane Chamakh (Photo: Andy Roberts)

Story so far

Leicester City are going into this one on a massive high following the incredible result at the King power stadium last weekend. The Foxes came back from 3-1 down to defeat giants Manchester United 5-3, with goals from Leonardo Ulloa, Jamie Vardy, Esteban Cambiasso and David Nugent. Crystal Palace will be equally happy with their 3-2 victory over Everton at Goodison Park, with Yannick Bolasie, Frazer Campbell and Mile Jedinak all scoring.

This will be the first time since 1998 that the two teams have faced each other in the Premier League, however Leicester narrowly lead the head to head record with 22 wins, Palace earning 20 wins and 16 of the games ended in draws. The last time the two played was in the Championship in 2013 in which honours were even in a 2-2 draw at Selhurst Park.

Neil Warnock will be hoping for a performance from star striker Leonardo Ulloa, who is currently the league’s second top goal scorer with five goals already this season in as many games. According to the EA SPORTS Player Performance Index, Ulloa has already had six on target attempts and 89 passes in the opposition half, whilst also covering 51km and reaching speeds of 32.4 km/h. Ulloa is currently 19/10 to score anytime with 888sport.com.

Argentina International Esteban Cambiasso made a crucial impact on his first start vs Manchester United, alongside his equalising goal, Cambiasso attempted 35 passes and covered 8km in 71 minutes.

Mike Jedinak will be hoping to stop Ulloa however, who currently tops the EA SPORTS Player Performance Index for tackles won with an astonishing 30 tackles in five matches. Young English defender Martin Kelly, who signed from Liverpool this summer, also has completed an impressive 13 tackles, with a further 22 clearances and 10 interceptions. 888sport.com have set Dwight Gayle as the favourite to score anytime for Palace at 23/10.

The English striker has created the second most chances for Palace so far this season, trumped only by the on loan Wilfried Zaha.

Man of the match against Manchester United Jamie Vardy, will be hoping he can replicate his performance again against Crystal Palace, Vardy scored the crucial goal and assisted all four other goals. The 27-year-old striker covered nine km reaching a top speed of 34km/h. 888sport.com have Leicester City forward David Nugent as favourite to score anytime at 9/4, Nugent has played 435 minutes already this season, and has covered an impressive 55km.

The 29 year old has attempted nine dribbles this season and completed 88 accurate passes. Nigel Pearson will be aware however, despite Leicester’s attacking threat, that they have conceded eight goals already this season, and defenders Wes Morgan & Richie De Laet will have to perform well to prevent the impressive Palace forward line from scoring.

Morgan has already achieved an astonishing 47 clearances, 11 blocks and 10 interceptions. De Laet is equal fourth in the EA SPORTS Player Performance Index with 21 tackles won; he also has 34 clearances and 15 interceptions to his name.

Palace manager Neil Warnock will hope that goalkeeper Julian Speroni, who so far has played every minute for his side this season, can aid his side to stop leaking goals, Palace have conceded ten goals already in five games, currently place in the Premiership, ten places behind Leicester. Speroni has an sit in 15th impressive 17 saves this season and 54 accurate passes.

Team news

Eagles striker Marouane Chamakh returns to the squad after being sidelined with a hamstring injury. Manager Neil Warnock has reported a fully-fit squad.

Leicester defender MATTHEW UPSON is out with a calf problem, while Zoumana Bakayogo faces surgery on an anterior cruciate ligament injury. On-loan striker Nick Powell can feature again after missing last week's victory over parent club Manchester United.

Palace (from): Speroni, Hennessey, Mariappa, Kelly, Fryers, Ward, Delaney, Dann, Hangeland, Jedinak, McArthur, Bannan, Ledley, Williams, Bolasie, Thomas, Puncheon, Gayle, Campbell, Johnson, Doyle, Chamakh, Zaha.

Leicester (from): Schmeichel, Hamer, De Laet, Konchesky, Wasilewski, Schlupp, Moore, Morgan, King, Hammond, Albrighton, Knockaert, Mahrez, Vardy, Taylor-Fletcher, Ulloa, Nugent, Wood, Drinkwater, Cambiasso, Simpson, Lawrence, Powell.

Quotes

Roy Hodgson

"I look at the way they beat Stoke. That's more realistic, I think. They beat Stoke quite well, they were very organised. It's a hard place to go Stoke and it was a fabulous result. They were very professional.

"Nigel's been building a team now for a couple of years. I've got a lot of respect for Nigel, I think he's done a fabulous job and it's not always been simple at Leicester. There have been moments where I'm sure people higher up thought about changing, but he stuck at it.

"It was a cruel way of missing out on promotion. I remember it clearly. From one end of the pitch to the other. In 30 seconds you're in the play-off final and then 30 seconds later you're not. That's as cruel as it gets. They regrouped and Nigel got to add to the squad and they never looked back."

Dwight Gayle

"Obviously my first season didn’t go the way I probably wanted it to. There were still some memorable moments but I’d be lying if I told you the fee didn’t add some pressure.

"When I’m performing well then it’s not going to bother me, but when I’m perhaps not scoring then it’s going to play in my ear.

"But this year I’ve not really thought about it. It’s been a year and a half since I arrived here and I’m settled now. There are no excuses for me not performing.

"I think I’ve moved on, last year it played on my mind but you’ve just got to get on with things and perform. I want to prove myself in the Premier League."

Julian Speroni

"We are expecting a tough challenge from Leicester. We know how dangerous they are going forwards and we have to be careful with that.

"They are a newly promoted so you expect them to put up a fight. I think it will be tight, it will be very close. The first few games of the season have shown that anybody can beat anybody. You can’t really say until after 10 or 12 games who is going to be fighting relegation and who is up at the top."

Nigel Pearson

"Crystal Palace will be a tough game. They had a great result last weekend and we've got to make sure we get our performance right. I know [manager] Neil Warnock pretty well and he's a really good fit for the club. He's a lot of experience and understands the game.

"We've shown a capacity to learn as we go along in the Premier League. I'm looking for the right level of performance on Saturday."

Leicester City - league stats

Full league table

Last five results

Date	Type	Home Team	Score	Away Team
20/04/2013	League	Crystal Palace	2 - 2	Leicester City
27/10/2012	League	Leicester City	1 - 2	Crystal Palace
02/01/2012	League	Crystal Palace	1 - 2	Leicester City
20/11/2011	League	Leicester City	3 - 0	Crystal Palace
12/04/2011	League	Leicester City	1 - 1	Crystal Palace

All time results

Last meeting

Palace 2-2 Leicester City

Saturday April 20 2013

Palace: Speroni, Gabbidon, Moxey, Ward, Delaney, Dikgacoi, Marrow (O'Keefe, 78), Wilbraham (Phillips, 85), Dobbie (Bolasie, 75), Murray, Zaha

Subs not used: P Ramage, A Moritz, J Banton, R Fitzsimons

Goals: Gabbidon (26), Dobbie (67)

Bookings: Moxey, Delaney, Dikgacoi

Leicester City: Schmeichel, Keane, Konchesky, Morgan, de Laet, King, Dyer (Gallagher, 89), James, Knockaert (Kane, 89), Wood, Schlupp (Nugent, 73)

Goals: King (37), Wood (73)

Bookings: James

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